Only One True You
by Yami Yuugi
Summary: AU.Implied YxYY. Change isn't easy. Humans hesitate change. Yuugi defeats his other self and claims his title as King of Games. How do you say goodbye to your best friend?


Only one true you

By Yami Yuugi

Rating: T

Summary: (told in Yuugi's point of view) Yuugi's thoughts and reactions to losing his other half as well as his outlook of life without him. Was a challenge for the weekly entry of a Reawakening of Memories yahoo group.

Warnings: One sided Y/YY shounen ai.

Note: I haven't actually seen the ending of the series of episodes. I have seen screen shots, and clips of the final episode. Therefore, this is sort of my version of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, the series would have been very, very different.

- - - - - - - - - - -

My world had shattered… I felt as though everything I had known had fallen into hell, leaving me alone to endure the pressures of my acts.

My eyes had grown wide, tears forming instantaneously. I had just enacted in something that had never occurred officially in the game of Duel Monsters.

I had defeated the other me.

I couldn't believe it. I, the hikari, the one who was supposed to maintain balance amongst the world's arising evils. I had defeated the nameless, no I had defeated Atemu.

My heart grew heavy, emotions overriding all sense of my sanity as well as my mind. I was exhausted, losing all energy as I collapsed onto my knees.

I stared off in a daze, tears coursing heavily down my cheeks, mimicking that of a river. My hands rested heavily against the limestone flooring of the other me's tomb. The stone was cool, almost dank at the slightest touch. It held a calming effect to my jumbled mind, as well as my broken heart. It was now that I had realized that things were going to change.

He was going to the afterlife.

The other me was being sent off to the afterlife. He was finally free from the clutches of the millennium puzzle. The very prison that Re himself had placed him under. The nameless pharaoh was now put to rest.

I couldn't bear to think any further of losing my shadow. I would never admit this to anyone other than myself, but I truly loved him. He had been everything I had ever wanted; he had stood by me for a number of years.

The other me protected me and helped me gain self-confidence when no one believed in me.

My body shudders as the sound of his boots click across the limestone, sound echoing through the heavy walls of his burial. He's coming to comfort me, something he had always done.

Sound leaves the tomb, meaning that he has stopped, gazing down at me with eyes much like my own. A small, but rare smile reserved only for me graced his face. A comforting hand falls upon my shoulder, eyes of identical amethyst locking upon my own.

Both of us gaze at one another, tears gleaming on my pale face. I sniff slightly, gazing at him with a mournful look.

"The other me…"

Surprisingly, he shushes me with the flick of his hand, fingers trailing across my damp cheeks.

"No. I'm no longer the other you, Yuugi. You are one of a kind, and have proved yourself worthy as game king." His fingers crept along my face, soft, feather-like touches dancing across the tip of my jaw line as he smiled.

"But, but… I can't go on without you, Yami. Please don't leave me." I felt pitiful. I was pleading against fate for his presence. I didn't want to lose him, not now, not when I wanted to stay with him.

The other me simply sighed, massaging his fingers through my thick tricolor hair. His eyes are impassive, disguising his true emotion and thought. Something that I have long ago accepted of his natural behavior.

"You no longer need me aibou. You have grown up so much since I had first met you. You are stronger than you appear, and you have many fantastic friends by your side."

I stare at him, my natural pout gracing my small face. He simply sighs, pulling me into a tight hug, face nuzzling deeply in the crook of my neck.

His touch is something that I had always dreamed of. He was so warm, so soft, and so strong. He smelled strongly of natural spices, adding exoticness to his already gorgeous physique. We were both content in this intimate touch, a sense of need that he and I had always shared. Our bond had always been strong, and always will be. I loved him more than I loved anyone I had ever met, even my child-hood crush.

We both held each other tightly, unwillingly parting after a number of minutes.

Atemu pulled his arms away from me, fingers brushing the bangs from my forehead as he unexpectedly placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Take care of yourself, aibou. I will always be watching you. Don't forget that you are the true game king, and my partner."

His words melted my insides to mush, leaving me to sweep away my muddled feelings and emotions for his gorgeous body and exhilarating personality and confidence.

I simply smiled, wiping away the remains of my tears, sniffing. "I will always remember you, Atemu. I'll see you again someday."

"As I will, Yuugi. One day outside this plane of mortal living, we shall meet. Until then, enjoy the rest of your teenage years."

With this said, he turned on his heel, walking up the steps in front of the gates to his paradise.

He closes his eyes, muttering his hidden name as pharaoh, turning away as a bright light engulfs the underground burial chamber.

His paradise had arrived. The light danced around his body, beckoning him into the bright warm light of his haven.

Without even turning around, I hear him speak softly, words that would forever change how I thought of our final moments together.

"I love you, Yuugi. I will always watch over you."

Tears welled in my eyes yet again, only growing further as the light brightened, pulling his willing body into its warmth.

I watched in amazement as his body was enveloped into the afterlife, the doors closing heavily. It was then that the tomb began to collapse, the millennium items falling further into this abyss.

My friends and I had run, leaving behind all of our adventures and possessions that revolved around the pharaoh and his unknown memories.

Life had finally made sense to me, almost as though it had fallen into a completely new light.

Atemu had taught me many things through our adventures of saving the world, as well as friendship and confidence.

With the meeting of new friends, things may have sad conclusions and parting of ways. With his departure, I learned to live life on my own, standing up for myself without fear. Things had been balanced in the world of the living and the world of the afterlife.

A light always shined down on me each morning, reminding me that Atemu was still there, watching me play out my role as a confident, teenaged boy.

_-Fin_


End file.
